MindFreedom: Promoting Humane Alternatives in Mental Health

MindFreedom is an independent grassroots coalition of activists working for human rights in the mental health system. One of the most common human rights violations is to deny people a choice of alternatives. One choice is no choice! Here's your gateway to MindFreedom's campaign for mental health alternatives to psychiatry's one-size-fits-all "medical model."

The mental health system needs a "truth injection" to promote more alternatives. Here, MindFreedom administers a "truth hypo" in front of the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.

Psychiatry is a controversial profession. It has for a couple hundred years been entrusted by society to handle society's response to the extremes of the human experience, society's response to people who have become overwhelmed in life.

Problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviors are very real. Millions of people across the globe suffer enormously with these problems. Psychiatry offers the world one, and one interpretation of these phenomena only. That interpretation is that these problems are bona fide medical diseases of the brain. The story of how psychiatry came to this interpretation, is a very long and complicated story. Psychiatry applies labels like 'Schizophrenia' and 'Bipolar' to people, it prescribes brain altering drugs to these people. Psychiatric science does not have any biological tests, and is based mainly on psychiatry's theories of 'broken brains'. But many people seek alternatives to psychiatry.

A huge and growing group of people worldwide are turning their back on psychiatry's interpretation. They are not disagreeing with psychiatry just for fun, they are not disagreeing with psychiatry's interpretation in order to offend people who believe in psychiatry's views. They are turning their back on psychiatry because their lives depend on it, because they have found alternative interpretations of their human distress, interpretations that have helped them recover from or manage their problems without psychiatry's drugs, without psychiatry's labels.

A thorough understanding of alternative interpretations of the problems that get labeled 'mental illness' by psychiatry is not something that can be provided in a short, quick sound bite. If you are interested in alternatives to psychiatry, welcome to the MindFreedom site, you're in the right place. Through this site you will be able to connect with hundreds of helpful and free resources. There are many books, radio shows, films, blogs and websites that take an alternative approach to 'mental health'. The following documentary films by filmmaker Daniel Mackler are a good place to start. We recommend taking a look around our website, visiting us on Facebook, or checking out the helpful links listed below these interesting videos.

'Take These Broken Wings', is a film about recovery from the problems that get labeled 'Schizophrenia'.

PsychRights founder, distinguished attorney and survivor of forced psychiatry, Jim Gottstein, on the evidence of psychiatric drugs doing more harm than good.

'Coming Off Psych Drugs: A Meeting Of The Minds' is a film about people labeled 'Schizophrenic' and 'Bipolar' who were told they'd have to take psychiatric drugs for the rest of their lives, who have chosen to live their lives without psychiatric drugs.

'Open Dialogue: An Alternative Finnish Approach' is a film about the Finland mental health system, a system with a very different approach to mainstream psychiatry's drug and label approach.

'Healing Homes: Recovery From Psychosis Without Medication' is a film about alternative approaches in Sweden.

In 'Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs: A Harm Reduction Guide', Will Hall talks about his approach to the issue of psychiatric drugs.

Read the personal stories of people who have been through the mental health system and survived it:

Other helpful websites that could set your mind free:

The website above, Mad In America, founded by journalist Robert Whitaker, is the
premier alternatives to psychiatry website in the world. Hundreds of authors, growing to 1.2 million readers a year only 2 years since its founding, this is the hottest place in alternative psychiatry right now, especially for those seeking alternatives to the medical model of 'mental illness'.

Madness Radio is the best alternatives to psychiatry radio show in the world, hosted by Will Hall, with over 150 hours of podcasts to
listen to, this radio show has hundreds of interesting guests from all over the globe, journey into critiques of neuroscience, stories of survival, the history of psychiatry and much more.

Talk with Tenney is a new internet radio call in show, founded in 2014, this exciting new show is hosted by psychiatric survivor academic and longtime MindFreedom member Lauren Tenney PhD, join her for regular interviews with many guests and call in and have your say on issues related to mental health and psychiatry.

Above is a link to MindFreedom's own internet radio show, there are many hours of informative listening about the issues that matter to you in human rights and mental health. Get to know who we are and listen to archived episodes of interviews and lively debate around these issues.

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We are MFI

Peter Lehmann, editor, author, psychiatric survivor activist

Peter Lehmann of Berlin, Germany serves as one of the MindFreedom International representatives with the United Nations, and is a long-term supporter of MindFreedom campaigns and activities. Peter is a psychiatric survivor who has worked passionately for decades in Germany, Europe and internationally with a variety of groups for significant change in the mental health system. Peter is editor and publisher of a variety of books challenging human rights violations in the mental health system and promoting alternatives. His most recent book (co-edited with Peter Stastny, MD) is called "Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry." This book provides chapters from 61 leaders in changing the mental health system, and is available in the MindFreedom Mad Market.